Views of assessments during pandemic revealed

Research published by Ofqual reflects the views of students, parents and school leaders on assessment arrangements during 2021, following the cancellation of exams.

A series of YouGov surveys commissioned by Ofqual finds the public and stakeholders had less confidence in arrangements for 2021 than in exams.

Just over half (52%) agreed, however, that the arrangements for grading and assessing students in 2021 were as good as they could be in the circumstances. Agreement was highest among parents (59%) and senior school and college leaders (55%), and lowest among students (46%).

Overall confidence in teacher judgements was relatively high. Stakeholders felt confident that teachers had the expertise to grade their students, although they were less confident that they would grade them accurately in reality, i.e. that they would grade neither too harshly nor too generously.

Meanwhile, confidence that grades would be reliable and comparable across schools and colleges was much lower when thinking about 2021 in general, in comparison with perceptions about grades pre-pandemic.